Demon in Town, Child of Spirit
by MischiveousInsaneMonkey
Summary: This is after the resurrection of SK. It's about my new charries. The team is in desprate need of more help, since they are outnumbered drastically, until, something is discovered that would turn the tables of the war...rated for safety.
1. Chapter 1

Yeah, I haven't made up a story for along time…it's starting to bug me. Might as well make one while my creative juices are pumping. Zaintar is in it…along with her teams and the SRMT and my two new charries. Enjoy!

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Chapter 1: Friends are as Pure as Crystals…

The streets were deserted; no human life was walking the paved sidewalks, except for one lone figure. The figure was a teenaged boy, with raven black hair and blue eyes. Underneath his eyes were three orange stripes. His outfit was white with an orange scarf, gloves, and a pair of dark colored boots. He stood with pride, straight and at attention, a look of anger on his face.

His gaze was staring off at the outlands of ShuggaZoom. The building he was staring at was the spark that lit the fire in his eyes. The looming castle-like building that housed the very enemy that he was trying to keep from ever touching his home world.

Skeleton King. The hero clenched a fist as the name ran through his head. He remembered the resurrection of the evil lord and how they failed to destroy him once and for all. The evil lord was way better than his old self, and ten times more determined to finish his job.

A presence behind him made him glance over his shoulder. Standing there was his girlfriend. She was a mecha, wearing a similar outfit like him. Her gloves and scarf were a dark magenta color. She wore a short white dress. Her pink, white tipped hair was in two pigtails. Her sea green eyes were soft and sad.

The boy turned fully and smiled at the girl.

"What's up Jinmay?" he asked, his anger gone and concern came to him. Jinmay looked away from him to the ground.

"This, what happened with Skeleton King coming back, Chiro," she said, her voice wavering ever so slightly. Chiro sighed and put both hands at his sides. Suddenly, Jinmay wrapped her arms around Chiro and began to sob uncontrollably. Chiro, first a little surprised, and then wrapped his arms around her, embracing her in a hug. Jinmay cried loudly.

"I'm so sorry Chiro!" she sobbed. "It was my fault he came back! It was my entire fault! I goofed!!" Tears soaked Chiro's shirt. Chiro rubbed the back of the mecha's head.

"No Jinmay, it wasn't your fault," he whispered, ignoring the idea some one was watching. "It was no one's fault but mine. I was in charge and I blew it. So, don't you be bringing yourself down about the whole thing." Jinmay looked up at the boy, tear filled eyes and tear soaked cheeks making Chiro's heart just drop.

"I know, but I always have the bad feeling that I did something wrong," she sniffed. Chiro lightly kissed her on the forehead and squeezed her one last time.

"Don't think about it, Jin," he said both letting go of each other. "You look better when you're happy." Jinmay smiled weakly. Chiro grasped Jinmay's hand and walked with her back to the Super Robot.

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Otto scurried underneath opened legs and dodged moving bodies. The labyrinth of heroes and heroines made it quite hard to get to Point A to Point B in fast time. Finally, Otto broke through and, not paying attention, he ran into a leg.

Once recovering from his collision, he looked up to the owner of the leg. It was Super Quazar's. The Sun Rider chuckled at the green mechanic and turned his attention back to the screen, where a large blinking light with a white dot in the middle filled the screen. Antauri was also floating besides him, staring at the object. Zaintar was on the other side of Quazar. Gibson seemed to be talking about it.

"It seems to be some sort of foreign object buried into the surface of ShuggaZoom," he explained. "It seems to be giving off some sort of strong aurora of an odd energy." Johnny Sunspot scratched his red hair.

"Do you think it's a bomb or something of Bone Bag's?" he asked. Zaintar shook her head, eyes closed.

"I sense no dark energy from this object," she replied, opening her eyes and again fixing them on the screen. Antauri nodded.

"Neither do I," he added. Gibson cleared his throat.

"Then I propose a mission to recover this item and bring it back here for testing," he told them. "I would believe whatever is making this high of energy levels has to be something incredibly strong. Skeleton King might already have some Formless working on getting it." Sun Riders, monkeys and dragon looked at each other. "All it leaves is Antauri's approval and some able bodied peoples to recover it before Skeleton King." Antauri thought a moment.

"Where is it?" Otto spoke up, getting into the conversation. Gibson was silent for a moment and looked back to the screen.

"Just a few yards in front of Skeleton King's fortress," he answered. Silence enveloped the small group. Antauri sighed.

"It would be devastating if Skeleton King did get his hands on whatever this is," he said. "I believe we should go out and get this item, even if it is where it is." The Sun Riders and Zaintar nodded to Antauri's answer.

"We, the Sun Riders, would like to help in retrieving this item," Quazar said, ignoring the whining from Johnny. Antauri nodded.

"And I'll send Chiro and Jinmay with you to help," the silver monkey said. Just as he said this, the two walked to the group. Chiro wave "hi" to them and went to Antauri.

"Heard my name, something up?" he asked.

"You and Jinmay are going with the Sun Riders to retrieve this and bring it here, for some tests," Gibson replied for Antauri. Chiro looked at the monkeys, then at his ex-favorite heroes. Johnny smirked at the black haired boy.

"Suit up, Chi-ro," he sneered. "We're gonna get a little dirty on this mission."

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Five white spots flew over the red dusty surface. Clouds of sand went up as the fumes from their jet packs blew out. Chiro was leading them towards the fortress, holding a small contraption that had a screen in the center. A green dot blinked ahead of them, along with the red dots of enemies. Thankfully, they were still inside the fortress.

Only moments after, they arrived at the spot where the dot was blinking rapidly. They landed and quickly went to work. Surprisingly, a crack in the surface made the job easier for them. Jinmay powered up to her mecha form and formed her hands into drills (I making her be able to do this). She went to work on the ground.

Hours past and Chiro was keeping a sharp eye on the fortress, which was surprisingly close, too close for comfort. Suddenly, a clank brought him back to the hole.

"Hit something Chiro!" Jinmay's voice called from the big hole. Chiro felt his heart flip in his chest and he jumped into the hole. The Sun Riders stayed above ground, keeping the look out for Formless.

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It seemed like forever till Chiro landed on hard surface. When he recovered from his landing, he noticed it wasn't dark and he was in a large room. He looked and saw Jinmay sitting besides him, panting, with smears of red dirt on her clothing and face. Chiro patted her shoulder and stood.

A white glow flickered in the room, casting an eerie glow on the walls. He studied them with interest. Carvings of flames and symbols decorated each side, even on the ceiling. The outlines were glowing light blue and they pulsed. Chiro felt a cold air blow easily over his hair. He shivered slightly and continued down the hallway. The white glow grew stronger and brighter. He saw what the cause of the light was.

Hovering at the end of the hallway, was a somewhat large white crystal. Chiro stood there, awestruck at the crystal's beauty. It seemed to be feeding the pulse of the carvings. He walked to it, hands prepared to attack if anything popped out.

Finally, he reached it and studied the surface. It had the same carvings as the walls of the cavern. These were also pulsing blue. He reached out and grasped hold of it. It came off easily and Chiro noticed nothing was going to happen. The boy saw that the pulsing stopped. He heaved the crystal up and walked back to Jinmay, who was now up and cleaning herself up. She stopped when she saw Chiro walking with the crystal in arm. Jinmay's eyes reflected the faint glow.

"Whoa Chiro," she said, touching the stone's smooth surface. "It's beautiful." Suddenly, Johnny's voice brought them to attention.

"Hey…um…guys!?" he yelled down the hole. "I think we over-stayed our vis…HOLY PROTONS!!!" The two looked up just in time to see a Formless fly right over him. Chiro put the crystal under his arm and grabbed hold of Jinmay's hand. She kicked upwards and shot out, just as Aurora flew through the air. The two crashed into each other, making Jinmay lose her grip on Chiro. He plummeted to the dirt below and landed hard on his front. The crystal shot out from under his arm, to every one's attention. Chiro recovered and watched helplessly as the crystal rolled away from him to the feet of a Formless near by. It saw it, and then, noticing what it was, picked it up and took off running back to the fortress.

"No. You. Don't," Chiro said as he charged after it. The Formless barely had time to react when Chiro's leg smashed right into it. It deformed into a puddle and the crystal yet again flew. This time, Quazar caught it.

"Let's get out of here!" he yelled, kicking on his jet pack and flying off. The rescue team followed his move and flew off with him, leaving the Formless standing there dumbstruck.

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Zaintar felt them before they entered the Super Robot. She smiled and turned just as the team popped up in the tubes.

"I see you were successful," she said, eyeing the crystal with some suspicion. Chiro wiped dirt from his brow that managed to stay on through their flight.

"Where's Gibson?' he asked. Zaintar motioned to the lab.

"He's in there, getting ready for that crystal," she told them. Chiro nodded and walked to the lab. The Sun Riders went off to clean themselves up, and Jinmay waited for Chiro's return.

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Chiro entered Gibson's now larger lab and set the crystal on the nearest table. Gibson was busy with some tools. The boy cleared his throat. Gibson turned to see who it was then smiled.

"Were you successful?" the blue monkey asked with anxiousness in his voice. Chiro nodded and motioned to the table where the crystal lied. Gibson scurried to it and examined it quickly.

"It was in the ground, like you said," Chiro told him, watching Gibson touch the now faded blue carvings. "But…it was in a large room that was covered with the same carvings as the crystal." Gibson nodded.

"Did anything happen when you took it out of there?" he asked.

"Well, except for when Formless attacked after we got out…really nothing…except that light was way brighter than it is now." Chiro suddenly noticed that fact. It did seem duller than it was. The now once bright pulsing light was now dimmed at seemed gray instead of white. Gibson thought for a moment.

"Can you get Otto for me and tell him to come in here, SPRNTEN and Zaintar too if you don't mind," he told Chiro. The boy turned and went out. Zaintar heard her name from the main room and passed Chiro, telling him she already knew. Chiro acknowledge the fact and went in search for the other two.

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Zaintar knocked on the opened door, taking a peak inside. Gibson told her to come in. The dragon slipped into the room and looked around. Only a few times had she been in here, since she didn't spent her powers or her machinery to its limits. She saw that his new lab had more than one screen and more than one table.

_Preparing for a lot of injuries before it happens,_ John joked to her after he finished the lab up. Zaintar laughed a little at the joke, but she didn't think that it would really matter.

Gibson was lightly tapping the crystal. A little lighting bolt shot out at him. He back off a bit when it did this, then he went at it again. Zaintar stood a little far from him till she noticed it didn't do extended harm to the scientist. Gibson hurried over to his computer and typed in something. Zaintar stepped closer and ran a clawed hand over the smooth surface. The crystal glowed brighter than before, then dimmed down to its low light.

A loud thud turned her attention from the crystal and made her looked behind her. SPRNTEN and Otto were sprawled on the floor, eyes crossed and stars blinking in their vision. Zaintar shook her head and went over to help them up. Otto kind of swayed a bit before shaking his head, blinking, and then skipping over to the table where the crystal was.

While she was helping SPRNTEN up, she heard an "oomph!", then some tires squeaking as they rolled. She spun and saw that the table that held the crystal was rolling right into a wall. Gibson was desperately trying to get to it, but he had tripped over Otto during the process.

Right when it was going to hit the wall, some invisible hand grabbed the table's handle and it stopped. Gibson looked up, thinking he would see what was left of the crystal would be only shards, but was surprise to see it was somewhat floating in mid-air. He looked over his shoulder to see Zaintar, her clawed hand outstretched and her eyes closed. She used her telekinesis power just in time.

The dragon replaced the table to where it originally was. The four of them encircled around the table and stared down at the crystal like it was the most priceless thing in the world. Though, they would find out, that it would be.

Gibson cleared his throat, causing the other three to look up at him.

"I called you in here to help me open it up," he told them. A hint of fear ran across Zaintar's face, but nobody saw it. "I would like to do it nice and slowly, so not to damage whatever might be in there." Otto gave Gibson a confused look.

"There's something in there?" he asked, a hint of shock in his voice. Gibson nodded, a little annoyed that Otto was asking him this question.

"Yes, I scanned it and there is a hallow inside, with a thin outer layer…something similar to a cocoon or an egg," he said. Zaintar nodded and turned to look again at the crystal. SPRNTEN snorted.

"Then why don't we get a hammer or something and smash it, like this," he said, grabbing a hammer from another table. Before anyone could stop him, he hit the crystal as hard as he could.

And that would be hard.

Suddenly, just as the metal head hit the glass surface, a force hit him and propelled him backwards hard, just as hard as he was going to hit it. He flew into the wall behind him with such extreme force; he broke through and ended up in the other wall. Zaintar quickly ran to help him up and out of the wall and back into the lab. Zaintar set him down easily and gave him a stern glare.

"That's probably why we didn't, smarty-pants," she said, giving him a growl and turning back her attention to the crystal. Gibson wiped imaginary sweat from his brow.

"I wasn't going to be that extreme with it," he told the golden monkey. "I was going to have Otto try and saw it open with his saws." When Otto heard his name, he perked up a bit. He saluted and activated his saws.

"I get this thing open in a jiffy," he reassured them, beginning to bring down his saws onto the crystal.

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After a few minutes, Otto saws were completely wrecked. He looked disbelievingly at them.

"I made sure these babies were 10 times more powerful then my old ones," he said, deactivating them. Zaintar sighed and patted his shoulder like she was telling him "good try bucko". Gibson scratched his head.

"Well, I guess this was going to be harder than I thought," he said aloud. Zaintar looked at the blue monkey.

"So, now what boss?" she asked. Gibson shook his head, a little sad at the fact that his plan didn't work.

"I was thinking you had a solution for this," he said. Zaintar gave him a shocked look, eased, and then closed her eyes concentrating hard. After a few more minutes, she re-opened her eyes, a hit of confusion in them. SRPNTEN stood up and limped over to her, seeing if she was all right.

Suddenly, the crystal began to crack down its center. SPRNTEN turned his attention to it. Gibson stood as though he was about to scream. Otto's eyes went wide with appreciation.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed. "Zaintar didn't even have to look at it and then it cracked!" Zaintar looked at Otto.

"I didn't do anything," she told him. All four of them turned to look at the crystal cocoon as it opened up. It gave a loud pop and the two top halves fell from the sides to expose the center.

They slowly reproached the table again and looked into the crystal. Lying curled up in a ball, was a small robotic monkey, eyes closed and breathing easy and steady. The little monkey seemed to be asleep. Otto's eyes widened happily. SRPNTEN looked as though he had just seen a ghost. Gibson looked like he was about to have a heart-attack. Zaintar had a little fear in her as she stared at the small body.

The monkey was white with a black belly. The inside of her belly was white with a light sea greenish blue stripe running down it. The stripe on her helmet was the same color as the stripe on her belly. Her feet were black. Her tail was curled up by her legs.

What shocked everyone the most was the fact her metal parts were different coloration than theirs. Her arms, tail, and antennas were a dark steel color. Another thing that shocked them was that she had had small silver spikes running down her spinal cord.

Then the eyes opened up slowly. She was waking up. She sat up and stretched, giving a yawn as she did. She froze when she saw four strangers looking at her. The four others were staring fearfully at her eyes.

She had no pupils.

Suddenly, her bottom lip quivered and she let out a little sob. Otto's caring way got the best of him and he approached the monkey child.

"There, there, kido," he said nice and quietly. "Uncle Otto ain't gonna hurt you. He wants to be your friend." Surprisingly, the monkey leaped into Otto's arms and wrapped her arms around his neck. A little surprised, then once recovering, he put the monkey down. She was short, barely making it up to the bottom of Otto's shoulder.

In turn, he introduced his friends to the toddler. She waved at them, now full of spunk and curiosity. She took a liking to Otto right away, following him as he went out to introduce the others to her, like a puppy with a new friend. He told him the names of the Monkey Team, the Dragon Team, and the Death Team, pointing to the person and saying there names. She said "hi" to them in turn and they replied back with a greeting.

Rackifa, the wonderful mother and caring friend, bent down and smiled sweetly at the child.

"And what would your name be?" she asked nicely. The monkey thought for a moment.

"My name's Nightmare."

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Whoopie! Cliffy! I love cliffies! So sorry it took long, but I had to get it all in this chapter!

I hope you enjoy and review!


	2. Chapter 2

Just gonna get to the chapter…

Chapter 2: Unexpected

It had been over an hour since Nightmare awoke from her hibernation state. She had explored every inch of the Super Robot that she could get to, getting into things she probably shouldn't have. Once finished with that, she went to check out the inhabitants, including Asda, who was also checking her out as well.

Antauri watched as Nightmare pulled at his tail, confused that it didn't have a tip like Asda's. By the way he looked at her; she was barely 5 years old, maybe 6 if he thought a little harder on it. The little monkey very much acted like it, but there was also something else the silver monkey noticed, something that affected her moving around and actions.

Like something was missing. Antauri wondered if Nightmare was with someone before she went into hibernation, like a sister or a best friend, and she was determined to find them. Antauri sighed. Who could she have been with during the time?

Suddenly, Nightmare went rigid, her pupiless gray eyes now turned black. Antauri sensed something wrong and stopped meditating, setting his feet on the ground. He walked over to her, getting ready to pick her up.

Just as he was about to, though, a force field caused him to bounce off of it and fly into the wall. He regained himself and looked at Nightmare with disbelief. How could a young life be able to produce an energy shield that strong? Not unless something else was protecting her.

"She's coming…" Nightmare whispered, getting Antauri's attention. "She's coming for me. She coming to take me back." Antauri felt fear run down his spine.

As soon as she said this, the alarm went off, the red light blinking like crazy. Antauri left Nightmare where she was and went to se what was the matter.

"Guys, we have an unidentified flying object heading straight for the city!" Nova yelled over the beeping. The Monkey and Dragons Teams, excluding Zaintar, gathered around the screen. Something was flying through space, hit the atmosphere of ShuggaZoom without catching on fire, and zoom into the city. John's eyes widened.

"No, that thing is heading straight into the Super Robot!" he exclaimed, finally tracking the thing's path. Otto laughed.

"Nuthin' can get through the Super Robot's heavy metal…even if it was a large blast or bomb," the mechanic reassured them. SPRNTEN wasn't too sure about that. They watched as the blimp of red got closer and closer. Suddenly, an object hit the Super Robot with such force, it about knocked it off its feet. The teams hit one another and fell to the floor. John looked up just in time to see something break through the metal above the screen, fly over them, landed, and then zoom off in the direction to the training room. Antauri regained himself.

"Nightmare's in the training room! We must stop whatever this thing is before it gets her!" he shouted. John and SPRNTEN reacted quickly, faster than anyone else could. They both ran towards the training room, John running in front of SPRNTEN. As soon as the training room came into view, SPRNTEN's dark energy senses throbbed inside of him.

Something demonic was in there. SPRNTEN could actually feel it from out in the hallway. He halted and stood frozen, almost statue like. John noticed it and came to a halt a little ahead of him.

"Something up?" the blue and gold monkey asked. SPRNTEN nodded.

"I can't go in there, not with that much dark energy swirling around," the golden monkey replied, his eyes staring uneasily at the training room's door. John looked oddly at his friend, shrugged, but kept this thought in mind, and slowly opened the door.

The room was eerily dark. He couldn't see a thing, much less try and catch a demon. The monkey stepped slowly into the main training room, keeping an eye on his surroundings, just for that eye light or a blaster charging up. What he didn't notice, though, was a pair of two, sea green eyes that were slit following him as he made his way across the field.

Suddenly, he ran into something. He let out a "whoa!" and fell hard to the metal ground. The thing he hit gave a little cry and also hit the ground with a loud _THUNK!_ When he recovered, he flicked on his head light to see what it was.

_Why didn't I think of this before?_ He told himself as he looked to see what he hit. Sprawled over the floor in front of him was little Nightmare, who seemed in a bit of a daze. She regained herself and looked at John, rubbing her head and wincing.

"What did you do that for?" she asked angrily, still unaware of what had come in here. John gave a sigh of relief and picked her up.

"Sorry there, Night, but Uncle John has to bring you to go…um…take a bath," he lied. He didn't want the little child to freak about a demon being in here. Nightmare, oblivious to the fact, sighed.

"Oh, alright, but let Otto be the one who gives me it, ok?" she told him. John nodded.

"Yes, yes, I'll make sure," the monkey replied, heading towards the direction of the door. "I'll tell them that as soon as we get out of here."

"That is, of course, if you make it out of here alive," a low demonic voice growled. Before John had time to calculate where it had come from, something hit him across the head. Stars exploded in his vision. His grip released Nightmare and sent her flying. John shook his head to clear it and looked up to see what that was. A pair of black monkey legs was standing in front of him. John slowly looked up and saw the face of the demon.

It was holding Nightmare in its arms. John was surprised that she wasn't screaming or anything. The demon wrapped its tail around his leg and picked him up.

"I know who you are, John, wielder of all the elements," it said. "You don't scare me." With that, the demon flicked John across the room and into the wall. John blacked out as his head made hard contact.

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Well, this chapter is shorter and isn't as long, but, again, another cliffy!

Hope you like it!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Experiencing Technical Difficulties**

SPRNTEN heard the door to the training room slide open. He got into a fighting stance, his heart pounding in his chest. He knew something was coming out of that room, but it wasn't John…this thing was setting his sensors off again. The demon…

Suddenly, something black burst out of the room, running straight at him. SPRNTEN gave a small cry and twisted out of the thing's way. He did not want to get touched by the demon; risking his angelic power was out of his mind.

"SPRNTEN!!!!" a child's voice called. SPRNTEN spun around just in time to see Nightmare wave to him. The golden monkey's eyes went wide.

_John…_The monkey high tailed into the training room and saw John. He was lying on the floor unconscious, his eyes blank. Instinctively, he went over to the monkey and shook him.

"John, wake up man!" SPRNTEN said while shaking him. "C'mon! Nightmare's been taken! Get up!" The monkey didn't move. The golden monkey looked him over and saw no physical features that he had been knocked out. But, maybe the demon's aurora was too much for John to bear in a single standing.

Suddenly, John's arm shot out and grabbed SPRNTEN's throat. SPRNTEN was taken off guard and struggled in his fellow's grasp.

"Whoa John, buddy! It's me, SPRNTEN!!!" he cried out. He felt his wind pipe begin to shut. When John heard his voice, he released and looked at SPRNTEN, a look of apology on his face.

"Thought you were someone else, SPRNTEN," he said. SPRNTEN rubbed his neck affectionately.

"We have bigger problems to deal with," he told his friend, helping the blue and golden monkey up. "That demon has Nightmare."

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The demon skidded to a halt when it about entered the main room. It sensed life swarming in it; humans, monkeys, dragons…

It suddenly let out an unearthly growl. Dragons. It silently cursed at its stupidity when it realized the fact. No matter…it could take out the dragons before anyone knew what had hit them.

Nightmare wiggled in its grasp. The demon let out an odd "hurr," sound and stroked the monkey's fur. The pupiless eyes relaxed and she stopped her wiggling fit. The demon smiled inwardly and turned around just to be staring into the face of a very ticked off dragon. The demon reeled back and hissed. The dragon growled.

"You aren't going anywhere, demon, with that monkey," the white dragon snarled, her gray eyes narrowing and glowing platinum. The demon then realized who she was. This dragon was the daughter of Zanlyn, betrayer of her own demonic kind, killer of thousands. The demon narrowed its sea green eyes too.

It also was a slayer of its own kind.

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Zaintar now had a good look at what she was dealing with. This demon had the body of any robotic monkey on the team; black fur with a sea green belly, white feet and black legs, and same tail. Its head is what freaked Zaintar out the most. It was a metal head. It look somewhat identical to a dragon's head, with three gleaming white fangs jutting out of each sides of the chin and two other fangs poking out of the chin. The demon had no mouth, just the fangs. Her steel colored helmet had three horns sticking out of it, then curving downwards and making another spike at the back side bottom of its head gear. All and all, it had five spikes that acted like horns. Two slits were its nostril holes, venting out smoke that now puffed out. The sea green eyes glowed bright. A skull like design was around the front of its face, it was a lighter gray than the rest of its helmet.

Zaintar then saw the tail come into view. She then noticed something at the tip. She saw a small head appear with red slits and sharp black fangs. Two brown horns curled around at the sides of its head. It opened it mouth and let out a long growling noise. Zaintar turned her hands into claws and posed to attack. But the demon just stood there, its eyes fixed on her.

"I wish not to fight you, Zaintar the Killer," it said suddenly, taking Zaintar completely off guard. "But, if that's the only way to get my thoughts through to you, then so shall it be." The demon snapped its fingers and a scythe appeared by its right clawed hand. It had a gleaming black handle and three gleaming sick green gems. The blade was light steel with green stripes scoring it. Zaintar raised her claws and was about to attack, when she noticed that Nightmare was in its grasps. She was thinking critically now, trying to think of a way to get Nightmare out of its grasps and get rid of the demon too.

Finally, she lowered her blood red claws and turned them to their normal state. The demon still had a hold on its scythe and was still glaring at the dragon. Then it too lowered its weapon. Zaintar still kept her guard as the demon approached.

"I still won't let you leave the Super Robot with Nightmare, demon," Zaintar said. The demon suddenly let out a hellish sound.

"You all think that I am evil, don't you?" it finally said. Zaintar noticed that the demonic voice that once was there suddenly vanished, reveling that the demon was in fact a girl. She continued, "Just because I am a demon…that doesn't mean anything!" Zaintar saw anger fill up the demon. Suddenly, Nightmare looked up at the demon with happy filled eyes.

"Sissy!" she cried in joy, wrapping her arms around the demon's neck. The demon embraced the hug and looked straight into Zaintar's eyes. Zaintar glared angrily.

"Then why did you break into the Super Robot, harm a good guy, then try and kidnapped a kid that we found?" Zaintar asked. She was trying to keep her anger in check. The demon growled again.

"You know how you guys found that odd energy?" she snapped. "You wanna know how the heck you were able to even get into the chamber without dying at the spot? I allowed that to happen so I could get her! I couldn't get her because an angel or something along those lines put her in the cocoon and angelic power surge through that room! I was the one that sealed to outer layer of the room! I was the one that opened it up and allowed that boy and his robotic friend to get in there! The only way that the crystal would need to be opened was when someone of high power tried to open it with his or her mind! I couldn't because of the angelic aurora that pulsed through that crystal!" By now the demon was raging mad. "And you think that I am kidnapping the one that I swore to protect since she was born?! Do you think that just because of some freak accident and the switching of your master from good to evil automatically makes me as bad as him?! Are you that thick skulled?!"

Zaintar stood there dumbfounded when the demon finished. She couldn't find the words to say to that. So, that explained it all then, eh? She knew someone else was behind the finding besides Gibson.

Suddenly, someone lunged at the demon. The demon reacted too late and the being hit dead on. Nightmare flew out of the demon's grasps and rolled away from her. The demon and other hit the floor and began to hiss, bite, hit, and claw each other.

"Thinking you would get away when you knocked me out, eh?" a familiar voice snarled. It was John, and he was ticked. SPRNTEN soon came into view and grabbed Nightmare. Nightmare suddenly began to struggle in the monkey's grasp. SPRNTEN ignored it and leapt to where Zaintar stood.

Fight between demon and monkey raged on. The two rolled and rolled, pale green blood mixing with red as the two mauled at each other. Finally, they flipped off each other and landed on all fours, both in a fighting stance. The demon had an open chest wound and her helmet was dented a little. John got the worse of the fight. Gashes scored his body, an antenna was bent, his arms were sliced in different areas, and a gash was underneath his eye. Both were breathing heavily.

The demon let out a hellish roar. Her tail revealed its head and it clicked its tongue in excitement. John let out a monkey shriek and charged. The demon as well; tail ready to shoot out. Soon, the two went at it again.

All the commotion brought everyone running out of the main room, excluding the Dragon and Death Team, who were back in the Super Dragon. They joined Zaintar and SPRNTEN, watching as John was slowly getting killed, and the demon slowly losing spiritual power. Rackifa covered her mouth in horror and began to cry. Chiro looked to Zaintar.

"Isn't there anyway you can split them up?" he shouted. Zaintar nodded.

"Yes, but it would risk hitting John!" she yelled back as the demon yet again roared. Nightmare was watching the battle go on. She began to wriggle and struggle in SPRNTEN's grasp.

"PHANTOM!!!" Nightmare cried out. The demon stopped suddenly and turned to Nightmare's voice. Her eyes went from mad to fear when she saw Nightmare struggling. John was lying too weak on the floor. That's when the monkeys went into action. Sprx went first.

"Magno Ball Beam Splitter!" Sprx called. The shots hit the demon, sending her flying into the wall. She recovered and brought back her scythe, charging at the red monkey.

"Death Dealer!" she snarled. She swung her scythe around. Suddenly, she struck the robot's floor with such a force it shook the entire Super Robot. Out of thin air, a black figure arose from the floor in front of Sprx. The pulling mass of black took form and turned into a large wolf like demon. It roared and charged Sprx, ramming him and sending him flying. While that demon dealt with Sprx, Otto jumped in front of everyone.

"You aren't gonna leave here alive, demon!" he shouted, launching up, saws at ready. The demon launched up and well. The two were trying to hit each other with their weapons, but they kept blocking. Finally, the demon turned her scythe around and hit Otto in the stomach with the butt of her scythe. That sent him flying downwards hard into the floor. The demon landed, and suddenly winced. The team noticed that her wound on her chest was slowing eating up her energy and the pain she felt was unbearable. Nova ran at her.

"Boom Boom wake-up!" the yellow monkey called. Her fist came thundering down onto the demon. But, the demon vanished in a wisp of smoke as the fists touched her head. The team looked around.

"Is it gone?" SPRNTEN asked. He was soon given the answer when the demon appeared behind Nova.

"Blood Pay!" the demon said. Her leg lashed out and kicked Nova in the back. Then her tail head grabbed Nova's arm while the monkey was in air and flinged her into Otto when he finally recovered. The two tumbled and rolled into a wall, their eyes crossed and dazed. Gibson joined the fray and shot electric darts at the demon. She was slow but dodged them with ease. Then, smoothly, she stepped on one foot and then launched at the blue monkey. Her hands began to glow black and purple.

"Try this on for size, scientist!" she shouted, shooting out a ball of dark energy at the monkey. It hit Gibson in the gut and sent him flying into Sprx, who was running away from the demon wolf. Antauri watched this move happen. All the moves that this demon did were like it was dancing, even though it was a bit sluggish. It sent chills through him as he watched. Chiro jumped into the air.

"Lightning Ki…Ahh!!" he was stopped in mid-sentence as a dark ball enveloped him. He began seeing horrible things; his team members dying in front of him, him too weak to help, and Skeleton King finally winning ShuggaZoom. He screamed as these images swirled around him.

_It won't happen! It will never happen! _He screamed inwardly. The field finally disappeared and Chiro dropped to the floor, still seeing those images in his head.

Antauri looked from Chiro to the demon. He was thinking in hast. The demon had to have a weakness…but what…

The demon wincing again showed him its weakness. That demon was strong…but being stubborn and not surrendering while it had the chance was slowly crippling it. Antauri then launched his attack…right at her open chest. He charged at the demon, claws extended in front of him. The demon braced as the silver monkey rammed into it. He flew a bit backwards, but was at it again. The two went on like this for a while.

"PHANTOM!! DON'T HURT PHANTOM!!" Nightmare's screams suddenly stopped the demon. It turned to SPRNTEN, who had a light ball ready to launch. Antauri took the chance and took the demon off guard, ghosting his claw through the demon's chest cavity. It roared in pain and tried to get the claw out, but Antauri held it there. Suddenly, the demon's eyes went gray and it slumped. Antauri took his claw out and the demon fell to the floor.

The demon wolf that was chasing Sprx vanished into a black wisp. Sprx stopped running and walked to Antauri, who was standing beside the demon's limp body. Zaintar, SPRNTEN, and the rest of the team did the same and surrounded the body. Nightmare began to cry and glared angrily at Antauri.

"You killed her!" she screamed, her pupiless eyes teaming with tears. She got out of SPRNTEN's grasp and kneeled besides the demon. She grabbed the clawed hand and tugged it.

"C'mon Phanny, you don't have to play anymore," Nightmare told it, trying to wake it up. "I wanna go home now and you can take me back. I promise I won't be bad. Phanny?" She began to sob. Antauri looked to each team member, then Zaintar, who was staring down at the demon.

"She isn't dead," the dragon said. The monkeys and boy, excluding Nightmare, turned and looked at her. She looked from demon to John, who was unconscious yet again. "Get him into med bay ASAP. He needs medical attention. As for the demon…" she looked back to her. "She needs to go to med bay too, but I'll make a special holding cell for her till she can be trusted." The team nodded and went to do there thing. Nightmare had sadly followed Otto to the main room, glancing back at the demon before she vanished from sight. Zaintar sighed and knelt beside the demon.

"I sure do hope you have a good explanation about this one, Phantom," she told the unconscious demon. "Cause you're going to have to tell yourself to the whole labyrinth of heroes and heroines that are on the team. If you're lucky, they'll allow you in." Picking up the demon, she walked to med bay, not noticing a pair of red eyes following her as she did.


	4. Chapter 4

So, I got down to business on the third chapter for this story. Can't anyone review if they like it? I want to know cause I feel as though I am losing my touch here.

Mine as well get on with the story…

**Chapter 4: Explain**

Antauri and Zaintar entered med bay after SPRNTEN had just put a barrier around the knocked out demon. The two got the green light from the angelic monkey. Both walked slowly, making sure that John didn't wake up. He was in critical conditions and waking him now could experience some pain on himself and the person that woke him up.

His powers were unstable because of the onslaught he got from the demon, SPRNTEN had explained to them before they went in. Zaintar remembered all too well what had happened when the monkey had been sick from that dark blast Skeleton King had shot at him. He was throwing fire balls from out of nowhere and tidal waves crashed them into the sides of the Super Robot.

Zaintar stopped when she saw the demon lying on the floor a few feet in front of them. Antauri floated besides her. It seemed as though there wasn't any barrier around it, so the two stood where they were for a second. Then Antauri sighed, looking dismally at the demon.

"I guess we should have waited a little longer before we came in here," he said, turning around. He was about to leave when suddenly, Zaintar's clawed hand grabbed his arm. He looked at her.

"She's up, but just pretending to be asleep," she told him. The silver monkey looked oddly at his friend. "It's something demons do to attract prey to them…they lie motionless until their prey is in reaching grasp." Antauri cocked his head. Zaintar snorted.

"I know this because…um…my dad is one," she said. Antauri winced a little as she reminded him of her father. He remembered how they had seen him for the first time…when Zaintar was pregnant with Asda. The name of her father always whispered in his head, a reminder that he had seen the powerful dragon.

Zanlyn.

The silver monkey shivered as that name ran through his head. The image of the dragon also haunted his thoughts. He was a huge black dragon with blood stained horns and gleaming white teeth. His claws were cruelly sharp and dangerous, which were stained with blood of his victims. His wings came sickly from his back, like similar to the black ooze Skeleton King once had. His red eyes pierced deep into his mind, digging through thoughts and memories.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. Zaintar was stepping closer to the demon. Antauri watched as she reached out for the demon. As soon as she was about a couple feet from the demon, it lashed out and tried to grab Zaintar's hand.

Suddenly, a blue force field propelled it backwards. Zaintar stepped back a bit and stared hard at the demon, who was recovering and standing on shaky legs. The two team members noticed that the wound on her chest healed, but she still was a bit drained of power. The demon glared at her.

"This shield won't keep me in here forever, Zaintar," it growled. Zaintar smiled.

"It will until you can prove yourself to the others that you aren't here to rip out their hearts and eat their souls," she said. The demon narrowed its eyes more. Zaintar shrugged.

"Well, you demons tend to do that some times…some more than once…" she paused a moment, aware that Antauri was floating beside her once again. She cleared her throat.

"Alright, so who are you, are you female, and what are you doing here in the Super Robot?" she asked. The demon snorted.

"The names Phantom and I am a first class demon, as you may have already known…maybe you didn't…and yes, I am female…if you didn't already know by my non-demonic voice. Didn't I already tell you why I am in the Super Robot?" the demon replied. Zaintar nodded.

"Nightmare was screaming you name a couple times…but I wanted to confirm that was your true name…and yeah, I did know you were a higher demon. I knew you were a girl when you screamed at me about how you allowed Chiro and Jinmay to get into that room underground…and I think why you are in the Super Robot was because you were going to kidnapped Nightmare," she answered. The demon gave a small growl. "Please, tell me I am wrong to think that you were stealing Nightmare," the dragon added. Antauri watched Phantom as she stared at Zaintar. He knew that if there wasn't a barrier around her she would have launched and tackled Zaintar already by now. Phantom sighed and plopped to the floor. She looked as though she was getting weaker by the minute.

"I am her protector…I came to get her away from ShuggaZoom so that…Skeleton King…" she snarled out that name. "Wouldn't get her and hurt her. You see, I became her guardian when I came to ShuggaZoom for the first time. She arrived when she was only just a small…well…spirit I should say." Zaintar looked confusingly at Phantom.

"Nightmare's a spirit?" she asked. Phantom nodded.

"Yes. She was an essence of a very powerful person. Who, I'm not sure yet…but, anyway, she grew fond of me as I was of her. So, I became her protector from then on. As she grew, she became the form of a monkey, similar to the one floating next to you," she added, pointing to Antauri. "Unfortunately, we weren't appreciated on the streets, so we hid in alley ways and in abandon parts of homes. As her power grew, so did mine, this made me hungrier more than usual. So, we traveled at night, walking around the sleeping town. Then, that one fateful day came…that day when Skeleton King had some how managed to get onto ShuggaZoom and awaken the Dark One Worm. Nightmare was jittery all the time, like she was frightened that something bad was going to happen that whole day. I ignored it until I heard people screaming…"

_Phantom peaked out of the alley way that her and looked down the street. She saw people running away from something, but she didn't know what. Nightmare was tugging on Phantom's arm._

"_I wanna go now, Phanny," she pleaded. "I wanna leave." Phantom ignored her pleads and looked at what the people were running from. She saw a huge black slug like thing with razor sharp teeth and a skull pattern on its chest. Her sea green eyes widened as it slithered past them. She snuck back into the alley way and began to wrap Nightmare in a blanket._

"_You stay here until I come back for you," she told the child. Nightmare sniffed and nodded. Phantom ran out of the alley way and straight at the slug, which was going to eat a little girl. She launched up and landed on the slug's back. The creature gave a surprised screech and began to frail about. Phantom summoned her scythe and sliced off the being's head. It deformed into a black puddle. She landed softly and turned to look at the small child. She was shivering and crying her eyes out, pointing fearfully at Phantom. Then Phantom noticed something. She was pointing behind her. _

_Phantom spun around and saw a hulking skeletal looking being raising a huge mace above it head. Phantom grabbed the child and launched away from it. The mace came crashing down on the spot that the demon and child were once standing. Phantom looked at the child. She was so terrified that she couldn't move. Phantom looked around for other humans, but none were present. So, she opened her wings and flew to look for human life anywhere. Then, she saw a group huddling all with each other._

_She landed in an alley and let go of the girl, who was staring at Phantom with fear in her eyes._

"_Go over to them humans and find your mom or someone that will help you," she told her. The child stood there for a moment, but then ran to the group. Phantom watched as she joined them and then took off again. _

_She was deep in thought. Who would have been able to summon such weird beasts to reek havoc among the citizens of ShuggaZoom. She remembered seeing things similar to the hulking skeletal being with the mace, but they were almost human height. She wondered if this same person was the one that had been attacking the city before too. _

_Suddenly, pain erupted in her chest. She cringed. Her wings buckled and she began to tumble through the air. She never noticed the building side come into view._

_She crashed into the building side. She screamed in agony. She bounced off and hit the other building side. Her wings snapped and tore during the slaughter. This repeated till she landed with a sickly thud. Once she recovered, she looked at her wings. They were a bloody mess of membrane and bone. She winced as she touched the useless wings._

_Something like wind rushed over her body. She shivered slightly and looked to where it came from. She saw lightning and darkness shroud the outskirts. An idea formed in her head. Maybe if she defeated this guy who was sending out these beings…maybe then the monkeys and their boy would allow her and Nightmare to walk in ShuggaZoom without having to fear…_

_Phantom liked the idea. No more having to sneak around all the time. No more fear of the humans hurting Nightmare. No more…_

_A whisper interrupted her thoughts. She stood rigid. Something, or someone, was calling her. Phantom snarled. Someone who knew her all too well. She gathered herself and began to run to where the lightning flashed. What she didn't notice was the robot that flew to the city right above her._

"Then…I just took Nightmare right then and there and we escaped to a planet not too far from here," Phantom concluded. "I knew that ShuggaZoom wasn't the best place for her to be at. So, we lived there until the planet was corrupted by a worm like being. I began to search again, but the only planet that seemed safe was ShuggaZoom. Me and my companions, the ones who also escaped from the planet before they were turned evil, went to ShuggaZoom once again and lived there. Nightmare, though, was being chase by a lot of pirates and demons. The only way to protect her was to put her in hibernation and a person with angelic powers did that so that the bad guys wouldn't be able to get her…" she stopped.

Zaintar knew that she was hiding something else. Ever since she began explaining about her and Nightmare, she sensed hatred to Skeleton King. But, why didn't she destroy him while she had the chance? While she was pondering this, Antauri looked at the demon.

"And, have you been a demon all your life?" he asked. Phantom was hesitant with her answer, but gave a silent "yes" and turned her back to them. Antauri looked from the demon to Zaintar.

"She's hiding something, I can sense it," he whispered. Zaintar nodded.

"I sensed it too when she was telling her story," she replied. The dragon thought of her placement of words when she asked, "Do you think she was associated with Skeleton King before she met Nightmare?" Antauri shook his head.

"Her past is clouded from my view," the silver monkey said. "I cannot assume things about her…neither can I assume she's turned from her ways." Zaintar looked at him.

"But, Nightmare seems like a good kid," she told him. "I would think she'd be scared of someone with Phantom's abilities…but, she could take things differently than we can." Then an idea came to her mind. "I have a way to tell whether or not she's good." She dashed out of the room, leaving Antauri with the demon.

She came back holding the hand of her husband, Scythe. He seemed a bit bewildered, but he remained calm. She brought him over to the demon, who still had her back to them. Scythe cocked an eye and looked at Zaintar.

"She's a demon," he said plainly. Zaintar snorted and pushed him closer.

"See if she's good or not," she told him. Scythe looked from his wife to Phantom. His eyes went pupiless and he reached out a hand. Zaintar and Antauri watched as the gray dragon stood motionless. He moved his hand around.

It took him a couple of minutes and he finally came out of his blank eye state. He turned to look at the two behind him, a grin on his face.

"She seems okay," he told them. Zaintar let out a sigh of relief. "She was telling the truth. Now, she just has to prove herself to the rest of the team." Antauri nodded and Scythe left, leaving the two alone again. Zaintar glanced at Antauri before going over to the invisible barrier. She set her hand on it and muttered a few words. The shield came down; all that angelic power flowed into Zaintar's hand. Once she finished, she went over to the demon, kneeling down in front of her. Phantom looked up.

"C'mon, then," Zaintar said with a smile. "Everything's fine. You're free. Well, for the time being."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Hated by Some

Zaintar lead Phantom to the main room where the others waited. The demon seemed a bit hesitant about talking to them. The dragon understood her feelings. Not everyone likes seeing someone with a tail who has a head and a dragon looking helmet replaced for a normal robotic monkey head. But, then she noticed something else in Phantom. She seemed as though she was trying to hide something from Zaintar. The leader could tell by the way she bowed her head as she walked.

Soon, the two were in the main room. Zaintar walked in front of Phantom, who suddenly stopped in the shadows of the entrance of the main room. Zaintar noticed the demon stopped and she turned around and walked back to her. She stood in front of her, her gray eyes searching her over.

"Aren't you coming?" the dragon inquired. The demon shrugged.

"I'm not so sure that they'll like me since I fought back," she told her. "They might…think that I am some sort of blood thirsty demon." Zaintar sighed and grabbed the demon's clawed hand.

"Don't worry bout that," she reassured. "They won't judge you till you told them your story." She didn't add "but some would judge you right a way because you are a demon" because she didn't want what was coming at her too much for her to handle.

After a little more chitchat, Phantom slowly followed Zaintar to the other heroes and heroines. As soon as they saw her, they all went silent. Phantom sighed and straightened up, her sea green eyes narrowing to their original state. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at all the heroes one by one, scanning them to make sure that they understood who she was.

Nightmare had saw her before anyone had said something. She broke through the crowd and ran at Phantom, her eyes glowing with happiness.

"PHANTOM!!!" she exclaimed. Phantom saw her and kneeled down, opening her arms. Nightmare ran into them and looped her arms around the demon's neck. Phantom wrapped her arms around Nightmare and they hugged. A single silver tear ran down the metallic surface onto the white monkey's helmet. Nightmare looked up at Phantom.

"I knew you weren't dead, Phanny," she said. Phantom chuckled and hugged her again.

"It's good to see you again, Night," the demon whispered. Nightmare snuggled closer to the demon's chest, smiling. Phantom let her go and stood. Nightmare released her and gripped her hand. The white monkey stood beside her, beaming and looking at the others. Zaintar cleared her throat.

"Everyone, this is Phantom," the dragon introduced. Nobody said anything, which kind of made Zaintar nervous.

"Hiya Phanny!" someone suddenly exclaimed. Everyone, excluding Antauri, Scythe, Ecllipse, and Zaintar, began to burst out laughing. Phantom narrowed her eyes more and began to growl softly. Zaintar looked at the demon to the crowd. If they kept on joking about Phantom, she might snap and do something that they all would regret.

"Do you have a Phanny pack around your waist or somethin'?" someone else asked. Again, everyone began to laugh. Phantom clenched her fist. Nightmare looked uneasily at Phantom. Zaintar saw it too. Before anything else was said, Phantom was suddenly into the crowd, grabbing someone and holding him up against the wall. Zaintar broke through the crowd and saw who it was.

It was Sprx. Zaintar snorted. That monkey couldn't help himself from making fun of someone with a nickname. Phantom held him up high, her eyes slits and wisps of black smoke coming from her free hand. An unearthly growl came from her. Everyone was standing still, excluding Nightmare, who broke through the crowd finally.

"You have a big mouth, Sprx," she snarled, squeezing his neck. "And I have just they way of shutting it up." Zaintar heard something in the demon's voice. It sounded as though someone else was talking through her, someone with a familiar voice. The black wisps soon turned into a dark energy flame. She began to raise it into view of the red monkey.

Suddenly, Nightmare's small hand rested on Phantom's arm. She looked down at the monkey. Nightmare shook her head.

"You said you didn't want to end up like him, Phanny," she whispered. Phantom eyes widened slightly. "You said that if you kill anyone else, he would get you and turn you bad…then he'll get me…and you said that if he does, then he'll hurt me really bad. You promised it would never happen." Phantom still held onto Sprx, but then finally remembered what she was doing and released the red monkey. She dropped to the floor looking at her upturned hands.

"I did promise, didn't I," she said. Nightmare nodded, patting Phantom's arm.

"You did," she replied. Phantom stood and looked at the heroes. Her eyes gave the smiled weakly look and she put a hand behind her head.

"Sorry bout that," she sheepishly apologized. The others looked at each other oddly. Gibson snorted.

"You could have removed his mouth anyway…nobody would have cared," he muttered. Sprx heard this and stood, walking back to the crowd. Nova walked up to Phantom and grabbed her hand. She began to shake it.

"Nice to meet you, Phantom," she said. Phantom nodded.

"Same here," the demon said. Nova released her hand and turned to the others.

"She seems fine to me," she told them. Johnny snorted.

"Why doesn't she tell us all about herself and how she knows Nightmare," he replied. "Then maybe we'll see if she can be trusted." Zaintar sighed and looked to Scythe. The grey dragon shrugged. Zaintar turned and nodded at Phantom. The demon nodded in return and looked to the crowd.

"Alright…here's how it began…"

-------------

She finished her story an hour later. Nightmare had fallen asleep during it and was cuddled against her chest, breathing slow and steadily. Phantom sighed and ran a hand over Nightmare's head. She shifted in her sleep, but then lied unmoving once more. Everyone formed groups and began to discuss about whether or not she could be trusted.

The majority thought she was okay and that she could be on the team. Some, on the other hand, thought otherwise. But, when they gathered around her once more, Chiro smiled.

"Welcome to the team, Phantom," he told her. Phantom's eyes twinkled. "You are now allowed anywhere freely without supervision." Zaintar smiled from behind the leader. Phantom looked at them then to Nightmare, who was still fast asleep.

"I think we'll both enjoy staying here with all of you," she told them. Scythe smiled.

"We have a place already picked out for you, right here in the Super Robot," he said. Gibson looked shockingly at him.

"There is no possible way that she can stay here," he told him. "We have no more rooms for her!" Scythe turned and looked at the blue monkey.

"She'll be sharing a room with Nova," he said. Nova waved. "She has already agreed with it and Otto volunteered to share a room with Nightmare. But, I told him it would be up with Phantom to see if she can." The dragon turned to look at Phantom. She nodded.

"I think we can work something out," she told them.

-------------

Back in med bay, John was slowly waking up. His whole body ached from the onslaught of the demon. He sat up and rubbed his head. He noticed his chest was wrapped in bandages and the cut under his eyes was patched up. The monkey snorted and eased himself off of the metal table.

He wanted to have a little word with that demon.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Out of Time and Power

The Monkey Team was still asleep when Phantom suddenly awoke. She didn't know why though. Then she suddenly sensed it. An intruder had entered the Super Robot. The life force was unfamiliar, and that's what made Phantom a little restless. She silently got up and tip-toed to the door, making sure she didn't wake Nova in the process. The demon slowly opened the door and slipped out, manually shutting so it wouldn't make any noise.

The hall was dark and cold. These didn't affect Phantom. She was a demon. Anything that seemed uncomfortable to others seemed comfortable to her. Her eyes could see in the dark, even the blackest dark you could ever think of she could see as though it was the bright of day.

Something caught her eye as she silently snuck past Gibson's room. She jerked her head to it and saw Otto's room door opened. She cautiously approached the opened door. She summoned her scythe before entering; making it clear that she was armed and dangerous. Phantom, like a shadow, slipped into the mechanic's bedroom. The door clicked shut behind her.

She looked around the room with her eyes. Nothing seemed present except for the sleeping green monkey and Nightmare, who was in a makeshift bed of her own. Phantom smiled inwardly as she watched Nightmare sleep. She remembered when Nightmare told her she was her "Guardian Angel". Phantom laughed and hugged her when she had told her this, but deep down, she really ever wondered if Nightmare knew she was a demon, not an angel.

Getting her focus back on the problem at hand, the demon blinked her eyes. Her vision became black. She could see the spirits of both monkeys. They were white wisps, forming the shape of their body. But, then she saw it. A monkey sized red soul was making its way to Nightmare's bed. Phantom knew that this force was oblivious to her being here, so she stood still and silent. It stopped at the head of her bed. The spirit said something and raised a claw like hand.

That thing was going to kill Nightmare. Phantom lunged. Not when she was around.

The other monkey and Phantom flew through the air. Summoning her demonic power, she ghosted them through the wall into the main room. They tumbled and rolled till Phantom flipped off of who ever it was. She blinked back on her original sights and saw who it was. The opponent was as tall as a robotic monkey, but he was all flesh. He wore a skull helmet with two horns coming from the top, one which was broken. His one side of his face was a dark red, like he had been burned. His right eye was pale colored. His good side eye was red on black. One hand was clawed; the other had a claw built in.

She gave a hellish growl. Mandarin. She remembered all too well who he was. Past conflicts resurfaced and anger rose in her. This flea bitten bag of flesh and blood dared to enter the Super Robot to harm Nightmare and then get away with it.

_I don't think so,_ she said to herself. Mandarin, on the other hand, didn't know who she was, and he reeled back when he was standing on his own two feet. Phantom growled louder. Her sea green eyes narrowed to give a scary look that even could make the dead quiver.

"I'm only gonna ask this once, what are you doing in the Super Robot?" she snarled. He regained himself and smirked.

"So, they now have a demon working for them," he said. "They must have really stooped down low to allow something that evil on their side." He cackled. Phantom gave an angry "Hurrgrr" noise.

"I asked you a question, monkey," she snarled again. "And I intend to get an answer, willingly or forcefully." Mandarin chuckled.

"My, my, impatient aren't we?" he said. "Why don't we get acquainted first, starting with our names?" Phantom was now to chuckle.

"I already know who you are, Mandarin," she told him. His eyes widened slightly. "We've met before…think way back…maybe to the time when Skeleton King was good." This was when Mandarin stepped back.

"No, impossible!" he exclaimed. "You were supposed to be gone!!" Phantom's expression shown in her eyes. She was smirking at him.

"I don't think so," she replied. "After I escaped from that lab, I went into the city, where I found Nightmare and lived till you showed up to awaken the Dark One." Mandarin stepped back again. "Now I came back to protect Nightmare from Skeleton King and you, no matter what the costs are." She stepped forward. "Tell me, how is he doing? Heard he got his butt whooped by the Hyperforce when he awoken the Dark One." Mandarin snarled.

"He can hear you, Phantom," he told her. Phantom clenched her hand. "You are part of him. He knows you're here. He'll make you wish you were dead." Phantom charged at him.

"And I'll make you wish you were never born!" she exclaimed. She yet again tackled him. She cut his face with her claws. He kicked her off of him. She landed hard on her back and regained herself quickly. Mandarin wiped blood off his cheek. He cackled.

"You'll have to do better than that to defeat me," he told her. Phantom stood in a battle stance.

"Give me your best shot then," she sneered. Mandarin smiled evilly.

"With pleasure," he said. He launched up in the air and came thundering down with the claw aimed at her. When he was about to hit her dead on, she grabbed his claw in mid air and kicked him in his gut. He flew back and hit one of the circular chairs. Her instincts told her he was going to attack again so she positioned herself in a readied stance. But, something purplish black charged up in the dark out of the corner of her eye. She looked to where it was coming from and saw another monkey standing their. This one was a robotic monkey. She was black with a purple belly. Her eyes were light purple. Her helmet was purple with a black stripe.

The blast shot out at Phantom. She tried to get out of the way, but her legs got caught in it and it shot through her whole body. She cringed as the electrifying pain went through her body. She fell to the floor. Something bonelike snapped in her body. She winced as she stood, suddenly feeling drained of her power. She felt pain shoot through her chest. She had cracked a rib.

The other monkey laughed and jumped down from where she was stationed. She walked up to Phantom. Mandarin had recovered and joined her. Phantom put up her fists. The girl monkey poked Phantom's helmet. Phantom tittered a bit before straightening again. She felt so tired all of the sudden.

"You seem a bit pale there, Phantom," the monkey sneered. "Are you okay?" The two minions snickered. Phantom growled.

"Whatever that blast was, it won't keep me from kicking your guys' butts," she told them. The monkey gave a mocking shock face.

"Oh, I'm so scared of you! You so powerful without you power!" she began to laugh. "You're weak without your demonic power, Phantom. Just like Zaintar, you rely on power to help you in battle. Let's see how you do without them." She launched up and kicked Phantom in the chest. She gasped as unbearable pain shot through her. Mandarin whacked her in the side of her helmet with his claw. That sent her flying into a chair. She got up, only to be knocked down again by the monkey fist.

Phantom tried to get up, but, too exhausted, she slumped back down. Mandarin smirked.

"Finish her, Martria," he said. Martria smiled evilly.

"I'd love to," she told him, charging up another blast. Suddenly, quick as lightning, Phantom lashed out and grabbed Martria's hand. She shrieked in surprise. Phantom glared hard at her. Their faces touched.

"Scared of me now?" Phantom snarled. Her tail's head came into view, hissing at Mandarin, keeping him back. "I don't think you need you power anymore Martria. I'll take it off your hands." Suddenly, sea green colored bolts ran through her arms and into Martria's body. She screamed in horror and tried to get away, but she was too late. The bolts went through her body, collecting all the power they could hold, and then they came back up her arm. Phantom released her, feeling regenerated and awake again. Martria stood and looked fearfully at Phantom. The demon chuckled.

"Wanna see my full power when someone ticks me off?" she sneered. She closed her eyes. A dark aurora surrounded her. When she opened her eyes, the sea green was replaced with red.

"_Denomic Srith!_" she exclaimed. Her aurora shot out straight at the two monkeys. They got hit dead on. They screamed in pain and fear. Then, suddenly, they vanished. Phantom powered down, her eyes turning to their normal state. She felt woozy all of the sudden. Her breathing came out in heavy rasps.

_I've gotta remember not to use that one when I don't need to,_ she told herself as she fell to the floor. Her world began to darken slowly. Before darkness took her over, a pair of brown legs was in front of her. Then she blacked-out.


	7. Chapter 7

Phantom awoke to a series of pains in her chest. She grunted as she felt it go through her body. She slowly sat up, ignoring the pain that ripped in her. She noticed that she was once again in med bay. She snorted. They probably found her on the ground K.Oed and thought that she was snooping around again. Now, she blew it for them to trust her. But, she knew that Nightmare was still alive thanks to her senses and she was safer than ever.

Phantom then noticed that she wasn't alone in the room. Sitting only a few feet away from her was a brown monkey. His eyes weren't very cheerful and he had a fiery claw at ready. Phantom knew right away who this monkey was. He wasn't in his ultimate mode, but just his regular one. Phantom tried to say something, but something pained her to do so. Still, she managed to say something.

"John," she rasped. He nodded.

"The same," he replied, a hint of anger in his voice. Phantom collected her thoughts and looked directly at him.

"Why…are you…up out of bed…so early?" she whispered. John smirked.

"You didn't do that much damage to me, demon," he said. "Gibson told the others it would be a while yet, but, I feel like a million dollars." Phantom nodded and eased herself off the table. When her legs touched the ground, they collapsed underneath her. John ran over to her and helped her up. But then she waved him off.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," she reassured him. "Just got the wind knocked out of me, that's all." John snorted.

"You're being stubborn," he said. Phantom stood rigid and spun to look at the monkey.

"I am not!" she replied. "Stubbornness is not me. If you want to see stubbornness, tell Zaintar to do something that isn't productive." She crossed her arms over her chest. John glared at her.

"You cracked a rib for Pete's Sake! You're at risk of puncturing you lung if it ain't dealt with right. Now, go back to the table and lie back down!" John exclaimed. Phantom flicked her tail.

"I just need to gain back some energy and then I'll be back to myself. I don't need extensive treatment over a broken rib bone!" she yelled back. The two kept on bickering to each other. John was concerned about the rib and Phantom told him she was fine and a good meditation would fix her up. But, then the bickering became louder and louder till suddenly, the whole Super Robot was up in a hullabaloo. The team thought something was in the Super Robot and went to check it out. But, fortunately, they found out it was Phantom and John just screaming at each other.

"You two argue like a married couple!" Sprx told them. The two both stopped immediately and glared at the red monkey.

"This doesn't concern you, Sprx!" they both said in unison. The red monkey backed down. Antauri floated over to the two.

"Now, what is all the bickering about?" he asked them. At once, the two began to talk at once, trying to explain their part of the story. Finally, Antauri put up a hand to silence them. They stopped with some difficulty. The silver monkey cleared his throat.

"Since I now have your attention," he said. "One at a time, tell me what happened." Phantom went first.

"Well, I woke up to another life force being in the Super Robot. It was different from everyone else's so I went to check it out. To come to find out, it was Mandarin and he was going to kill Nightmare. I fought him till another monkey came in by the name of Martria. She attacked me with a blast that drained me of all my power, but then I got some of it back and wasted it on a big huge attack. I passed out and John here brought me to med bay," she told him. John cleared his throat.

"Yeah, you forgot to add that you broke a rib while you were fighting," he added. Phantom glared at the brown monkey. Gibson gasped.

"You shouldn't be moving about like this then, Phantom," he told her. "You must get it fixed. Here, I'll help…" he was suddenly pushed away from her by a clawed hand. Phantom shook her head.

"I only need to meditate and my bone will heal and I'll get my energy back," she reassured everyone. "I was trying to tell that to John, but no, I had to be treated with extensive care and what not." John snorted again.

"It would have been better for you to do," he told her. "Even when you were walking to go meditate, you still could have punctured it." Phantom glared harder at the monkey. He would not give up would he?

Suddenly, Phantom socked herself in the chest. The team and John heard the rib snap more and heard Phantom gasp. Her eyes widened in surprise.

_I never thought it would be this…numbing_, she thought. Blood filled her esophagus and she began to choke. Grabbing her neck, she fell to the floor. She looked dead, because her breathing stopped completely. The team didn't move for a while. Nightmare was thankfully still in bed sleeping and she didn't have to watch what had just happened. John muttered something and kneeled besides Phantom's body. He picked up her arm and dropped it. It fell limply back to the ground. John shook his head and stood again.

"What was she thinking, that she was invincible or something?" he said. Nova stared at the demon's dead body.

"Maybe something told her to do it, you know, like some one in her head?" she suggested. Antauri nodded.

"Everything in her mind was clouded to both Zaintar and I," he said. He looked at the body. "Call the Dragon and Death Team here. We could use some help with this." The rest of the team members, excluding John, nodded sadly and went to do what they were told. When silver and brown monkey were alone, John went over and picked up Phantom. He gently placed her on the metal table. Antauri looked at the demon's empty eyes. John grabbed a cloth and covered the body with it. Then, the two left the body to meet the others in the main room.

-------------

Zaintar saw Antauri and John walk out. She looked a bit saddened at the fact a new member was gone. John placed a hand on the dragon's shoulder.

"She was good till the death, I guess," he said. Zaintar nodded.

"I agree," she replied. They went to the group that merged in front of them. They were a bit surprised at Phantom's death. They wondered where they should bury her and how big the coffin should be.

As the discussion continued, a metallic crash resounded from inside med bay. The teams stopped what they were doing and ran to the room's door. John strained to hear if someone else was in the room. And there was. He heard something clank and the rubbing of fur on metal.

He kicked the door opened and couldn't believe his eyes. Phantom was gone! The sheet was pulled off of her and someone took her body. John saw that the air vent was opened up and sea green blood smeared the wall underneath it. Someone had body-snatched the demon. He was determined to find out exactly who.

He leapt into the opened vent before anyone else knew what had happened and crawled through the series of tunnels that winded through the Super Robot, following the smeared blood trail till it stopped. He noticed another vent was opened at that the blood trail went through it. John sighed and went through the vent. He fell a short way before a metal ground stopped him. He shook his head and looked around. He was in the training room. Grumbling, he looked to see if the body was dragged more. It was, and it didn't look too pretty. Puddles of blood were everywhere he looked. Something wasn't right, and he had a very bad feeling about it.

Something moaned behind him. He spun around, but nothing was there. Getting a little scared, he continued his search until another noise made him freeze. This one sounded like someone was whispering his name. He strained to hear who the voice was, but the voice was unfamiliar.

This one was sweet and very beautiful. It seemed to wrap hypnotizing fingers around John. His mind was telling him not to, but some other force made his body move.

Suddenly, he was leapt upon by someone from behind. He was knocked out of the trance and he flung the person off. He flipped back up and attacked the person that jumped him.

"HEY!!! KNOCK IT OFF, JOHN!!! IT'S ME!!!" a familiar voice exclaimed. John stopped what he was doing and saw he was staring face to face with Phantom. Her eyes gave a weak smile look. John grabbed her angrily.

"WE THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD, PHANTOM!!!!" he yelled at her. He began to shake her. She shrugged.

"At least I know now that you were sad that I 'supposedly' died," she told him, pushing him off of her. John snorted and stood. She stood also, dusting herself off. "Besides, we demons can't die like mortals can. I'm…how should I put this so it sounds right…undead, as you might put it." John rolled his eyes.

"I know that and so does Zaintar. But, the other team members might not and think your out to eat their brains!" he exclaimed. Phantom again shrugged. Then he looked at her with a little confusion. "I have a question. While I was in here looking for you, someone was calling my name. It sounded like an angel or something, but I wasn't sure. Was that you?" It was Phantom's turn to look confusingly at him.

"Man, have you heard my voice lately? Does it sound like it came from heaven?" she asked. John shook his head.

"No," he replied. Phantom then rolled her eyes and looked around. Her eyes landed on the control panel. She stretched out her hand.

"_Asthra Monict Brith,_" she muttered. Suddenly, something rippled on top of the panel like a pebble had hit a watery surface. The ripple then began to form into a body. The body was of a reptilian creature. It had large leathery wings and a barbed tipped tail that flicked back and forth. The talons of the beast dug deep into the panel, but the panel had no gouges in it from where the claws were at. The jaws opened in a smile and blood dripped from its teeth. The yellow eyes were staring at them. John had the effects of the stare. The stare seemed to dig deep into his body and mind, ranking it with its talons and hacking it with its teeth. Phantom saw what was happening and jumped in front of John and stood calmly there, also staring hard at the beast.

"Mythricl, I should have known," she said. Mythricl, the beast, smiled even wider.

"Phantom, what a pleasure surprise to see you," the beast said, his voice sounding like fire hissing. Phantom relaxed herself ever so slightly.

"What are you doing here, demon? I thought I was told that I would be left alone from the time I gave that oath to Zanlyn," she told him. John looked at the demon monkey surprised. She had seen the mighty dragon and lived yet to tell the tale? What also shocked him was the fact that she had made an oath to him. Mythricl shrugged his ugly shoulders.

"I guess things have changed now that someone else is also summoning us, Slayer," he hissed. John looked oddly at Phantom. Slayer?

"Who's been summoning you, Mythricl?" Phantom asked. Mythricl chuckled.

"Why should I tell you?" he replied. He regretted doing so. Suddenly, Phantom had pinned him down and had her scythe pressed up against his throat. He cringed under the cool blade.

"I am the only one who is suppose to summon demons up here, you useless piece of hide," Phantom snarled threateningly. "Now, tell me who's been doing this or I'll send you back to the pit where a sniveling flea-eaten thing like you belongs." Mythricl put both his hands up.

"Okay, okay, I'll give, I'll GIVE!!" he whined. Phantom, nodding her head, still kept the scythe hovering over his throat. Mythricl gathered his thoughts rather quickly. "I really don't know his name, but he told us that he was now our master and that we had to obey him. He said that there would be all these poor innocent people where he was sending us and that we could do whatever we wanted with them. Unfortunately, your monkey friends and the humans already hid them from here. But, then he told us to prey on them instead. So, we all came here and…waited for moment when it was right." Phantom glared at the demon.

"How many more are in the Super Robot?" she asked. Mythricl didn't answer quick enough for her liking. She jabbed the scythe harder against his throat. "I asked a question, demon. Now, answer it!" He gulped.

"I think…"

"You think?!"

"No…wait! I know…I know that there are ten other demons hiding in here besides me!"

"Are you lying to me?"

"No! I would never lie to a first-class demon even if my life depended on it!" By now, Mythricl was sobbing his eyes out. John looked shockingly at the demon monkey. She wasn't telling a whole lot about herself to the team.

"I'm going to take a wild guess at who's been summoning you, Mythricl," Phantom told him. She answered only a couple seconds after she had said this. "He has a skull for a head and a staff. Am I right?" The demon nodded. Phantom began to growl so loud that John was afraid that he would be killed by it. She released the demon and glared hard at him.

"Tell your friends that they better get out of here before I get them and send them back to Hell with a brand on their rumps," she threatened him. Mythricl nodded and zoomed out in a black wisp. Phantom turned on her heel and headed back to the main room, her eyes glowing bright. She brushed past John. John saw a flash of something when she touched him, but he couldn't make it out. Then, he quickly followed after her.

"I've should have known it was that wretched useless bag of bones," she hissed rather angrily. John was wondering who she was talking about. She stormed into the main room, ignoring the fearful and shocked stares she had gotten from the others. John stopped by them and watched as Phantom turned sharply and entered the tube that would lead her to Antauri's room where the silver monkey, Ecllipse, Scythe, and Zaintar were talking. Something sizzled in the tube as she went up it. SPRNTEN waited till she was gone and looked at his buddy that was standing next to him.

"Wasn't she dead?" he asked. John shook his head.

"No, she can't die unless she is killed like demons are supposed to be," the brown monkey replied. Otto, curious to the noise that had occurred when Phantom went up the tube, looked at it and examined it. His eyes went wide and he backed up.

"You aren't going to believe this, guys!" he exclaimed. The remaining team members rushed over to him. They each in turn looked up the tube and saw what had happened. Something like large blades had dug into the metal like it was only tissue paper. Burn marks also scored the sides of the tube. John couldn't hear what every one else was saying as they began to talk to each other.

_It's something that happens when I get mad, John,_ Zaintar had once told him, explaining the large gouges in the wall of the main room. _I look like myself, but my spirit is actually my dragon side. It's like an invisible force to the unaided eye. _John then knew what had happened to Phantom. She was so angry with whoever she knew summoned those demons that her spirit became her true form but she stayed as her monkey self. John shuddered at the thought.

How dangerous was she when she unleashed her dark side?


	8. Chapter 8

Antauri, Ecllipse, Scythe, and Zaintar were all sitting in Antauri's room. They were discussing to each other about the recent death of Phantom, who was storming her way to the room. Zaintar was sitting rather uneasily as the other talked. Something didn't feel right in the Underworld energy. Like, something or someone had opened up a door and unleashed demons out onto ShuggaZoom.

Someone had forced opened the door and stepped in. The four turned to see who it was and all were shocked. Standing there, fuming was none other than Phantom herself, who was only dead just a few minutes ago. Zaintar, along with the others, quickly stood and went into battle stance. But, Phantom shook her head.

"I'm alive, I didn't die," she told them. They relaxed a bit and Zaintar gave her an odd look.

"What happened? You look a bit…" she tried to find the right words. "…well…err…pissed off at something."

"Or someone," Phantom snarled, flicking her tail back and forth. Antauri floated over to the demon. She cringed a little when his hand rested on her shoulder. Scythe and Zaintar saw it and both looked at each other. Phantom knew something that they didn't. And she didn't seem too excited to tell it to them. Ecllipse was going to ask the question, but then Zaintar stopped him.

"May you all please leave the room," Zaintar told them. "Phantom and I have to discuss some things between each other." The three boys looked at one another and left the room. Scythe was the last to exit. He looked over his shoulder at his wife. She stood there, her silver eyes telling him she could deal with it herself. He breathed in.

"Zaintar…Asda will be up in a few minutes," he told her. "It's already…4:00 in the morning. Don't tire yourself over your limits." Zaintar nodded and waited till he left the room and the door shut. Then, she turned her attention to Phantom, who was trying hard to calm herself down. The dragon rubbed her temples.

"Alright, so let me get this straight," she began. "You cracked your rib till it pierced your lung, which should have killed you, but it didn't, then you come back here all ticked off and about ready to rip someone's head off. Now, what happened before you came here and why did you 'pretend' to die?" Phantom gathered her words and sighed. She explained why she had done what she did and told her about John yelling at her. Then she paused at the part of when she met Mythricl.

"Then, come to figure out, someone else now has the power to summon demons besides me," she said rather angrily. "I found a demon in the Super Robot and he told me that ten others were in here. He said that the one that summoned them told them to prey on us instead of the citizens. I asked him who it was, but he didn't know. Then I took a wild guess and I was right." Phantom clenched her fist. Zaintar dared asked the question that burned in her mind.

"Who is it, Phantom?" she asked. Phantom hissed the words out like they were a distasteful item in her mouth.

"Skeleton King."

-------------

SPRNTEN and the others had gone back to bed. Only Antauri and John stayed awake. They were waiting for the two girls in Antauri's room to exit and tell them what was going on. The two waited; Antauri in a patient matter and John in a very anxious and impatient matter.

Suddenly, the room door slid opened and both the girls stepped out. Zaintar was glancing occasionally at the demon monkey beside her, who was muttering something in a demonic tongue. John, curious to what Phantom was saying, was about to go over to her, but Antauri's firm grip on his shoulder told him to stay put. John, a little hesitant, went back to Antauri's side and watched as Phantom entered Nova's room. The brown monkey then turned to Zaintar and cocked his head.

"What's up with her?" he asked. Zaintar sighed and stretched.

"She knows about who's been summoning the demons that have roamed the empty streets of ShuggaZoom," the dragon told him. "And she very determined to make sure that that 'person' will never be able to do anything again." John snorted.

"That sounds kind of harsh if you ask me," he said. Zaintar shook her head.

"Only if you knew who she's dealing with," the dragon told him. John didn't like that kind of tone in the leader's voice, but he didn't comment. Antauri looked at each of them in turn.

"You should both get back to bed before we have to deal with whatever Skeleton King has in store for us today," the silver monkey replied. The two nodded and headed to the teleportation pad that would bring them back to the Super Dragon. John looked over his shoulder at the silver monkey before he entered the tube with Zaintar. The monkey had vanished back into his room where he would finish recharging himself for the rest of the early morning hours. John shrugged and entered the tube. Then, they both flicked off in a blink of a bright light.

-------------

Phantom sat in the dark of Nova's room. She sat criss-crossed on her bed, her eyes shut and concentrated. Her mind was else where, floating somewhere in the dark spaces of the world…

_Phantom floated around for a few minutes. She was determined to find Skeleton King's portal that allowed demons to exit from Hell with ease. She drifted to an opened portal that had light flooding from it. She latched her scythe onto it and heaved herself through. She wondered if the dragon Zanlyn knew anything about this. Of course, she hated him as much as she hated Skeleton King, but she was the only one given the power to control and summon demons. This made her a little peeved. _

_Phantom slowly entered the portal hole and looked around. She was back in the streets of ShuggaZoom. Confused, she hung back near the portal, looking around for anything odd or out of place. Then, she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned and saw other demons hovering around her as well. They, of course, didn't see her because she was in spirit mode and not in her demonic mode. They whispered to each other and floated around, looking a bit bored. Phantom, while she hung there, began to count the demons she saw. There were at least a few dozen demons here. She didn't know how much more were around the city. She had to do something fast. She knew this battle move all too well in recent wars. She concentrated hard inside and gathered her power._

"_Helltith Mori Santic!" she called. Suddenly, the demons shrieked and flew directly back into the portal. She watched as all the demons fluttered fearfully back into the darkness. She saw enormous black clouds begin to flutter in. She gave a sigh of relief. She was glad that she could do this. Then, as soon as they entered, they all went back in, knowing that someone powerful had told them so. Phantom looked around for others. Seeing none, she slipped back into the portal and sealed it. She floated through the demons with ease, none of them knowing what was going on. _

_The demon monkey saw another portal. This made her a little excited and she again heaved herself through. She then found herself flying airlessly through the air. She tried to stop herself, but her scythe couldn't grab anything and she hit the wall. She picked herself off and shook her head as she looked around. The walls were sickly green with some weird texture to them. In the middle of the room sat a throne. There were windows around the room at the front and there was a door too. Phantom floated around till she noticed she went through someone. Kind of confused, she turned and saw who it was. _

_He looked different than she had saw him last. His skull was crystal and purple besides the sort of triangular shape that it was. His hollow eyes sockets were looking at someone else, not at her, which was a relief. His outfit was black and white. His boots and gloves were white. On his chest, he had a mechanism that blinked ever once in a while. He wore a helmet that had two spiked things sticking out of it. His staff was straight and silver, different from his old one._

_She then wondered who he was looking at and she turned and saw the portal again. She floated up to his shoulder and hovered there, feeling a little uncomfortable. Something exited the portal and Phantom waited to see who it was._

_It was a demon, but none that she had seen before. It was a blood red creature with black wings. It had bright glowing yellow eyes that could pierce any barrier and make the bravest warrior shrink. Two golden horns were at the sides of its head, telling others that he was a higher demon than others. Its talons on its feet dug into the floor. It was standing on its hind legs like a human. It stood almost to 9ft, which Phantom snorted at. _

_It bowed in front of Skeleton King._

"_My lord, we have news about the demon in the Super Robot," he said. Skeleton King nodded._

"_And?" the evil lord asked, making Phantom shiver. The demon looked at the lord._

"_She has regained all her power back and she knows that you too are summoning us," the demon replied. "She's still very protective of that monkey child she sworn to protect all those years ago." Skeleton King chuckled._

"_Excellent," he said. "Now, her suffering will greaten if the child is…hurt in any way." The demon nodded._

"_Yes, it will, my lord," the demon told him. Phantom knew all too well what they were planning about. She snarled rather loudly and wanted to dig her claws into the evil lord's shoulders. And, accidentally, she did. Skeleton King felt the pain in his shoulder and swung at her. Surprisingly, Phantom was hit and she flew a bit backwards off the shoulder. The evil lord looked to where she was floating. She froze, afraid that he had seen her. Fortunately, he didn't and turned his attention back to the demon. She gave a sigh of relief and kicked towards the portal. She didn't think that she wanted her physical self to suddenly awake and she was sitting on the ground only a few feet away from the two._

_Suddenly, something grabbed her tail and she was yanked back. She flew through the air once more and went through the evil lord's torso. Before Phantom could react, something pinned her to the wall and held her there. Phantom kicked at the invisible force. Suddenly, the thing released her and she floated down a bit. She had to get out of here before Skeleton King had the slightest idea someone else was in here. She zoomed towards the portal, feeling something hot on her tail. She then entered the portal and sealed it shut. She then realized her mistake in her haste. Skeleton King was staring directly at the portal when she was there. She curse silently and zoomed through the demons that were being held in there with her._

_She wondered what the world that thing was that attacked her. She was afraid that something had attacked her in her physical state and she quickly woke herself up…_

Phantom jolted out of her trance. She rubbed her head and looked around; searching for what might have attacked her. Nothing seemed present, but she wasn't sure that it was a fluke deal. The demon slowly eased herself off the bed. Her body seemed a bit drained from her ordeal.

She glanced at the clock. It read 5:30 a.m. She snorted and walked out of the room, leaving Nova to sleep peacefully till Antauri woke her up again. Her black fur was a bit ruffled and she quickly smoothed it out before she entered the tube that led her to the main room.

The darkness of the room filled her with some comfort. Phantom slipped through the room like a shadow, allowing some of her demonic self to come out. She hated to hold it in all the time; it was starting to be a pain. She could hear the voice of it inside her head all the time. Now that she had released only a bit, the voice was audible and she could hear it loud and clear.

_Ah, it's good to be able to move around again._

'Well, you aren't staying out for long. Not while I'm under the care of the Hyperforce. They would kick me out, along with Nightmare.'

_Oh please, stop being a worry-body. They still hate you even without me being out._

'Shut up, okay. I know very well that they hate me, but I want to still keep their trust. It's way safer here for Nightmare. She could get hurt out in the streets.'

_You still care for that child? You know if she gets hurt…_

'I know very well what will happen. I'm not stupid.'

_You surely are acting like it._

'Alright, what do you want? If you're just here to tease me, then you're going back in the mind.'

_Nothing. _The voice seemed to act innocent in saying this word. Phantom didn't like it.

'I don't like the way you said "Nothing" right then and there.'

_Come now, Phantom. I wouldn't hurt you. You knew that you were destined to become a demon way back then, didn't you? _The voice didn't ask it. It stated it to her quite plainly. Phantom rolled her eyes and whispered something angrily. The demonic side was absorbed back into her and her mind was quite once more. She sighed and looked around. She wanted to get outside before the others woke up. Silently, she snuck into the tube that led her outside.

-------------

Nightmare woke up. She hadn't been sleeping since Otto came back into the room. She asked him why he had been up, but, all he did was smile at her and fell back in bed. Nightmare wriggled out of the sheets. She tip-toed quietly by Otto, who was moving about in his sleep. Nightmare was afraid that he would wake up and tell her to go back to bed. She slipped out of the door and went to the tube that led to the main room. She was only a bit behind Phantom.

When she came out of the tube, she saw that someone was leaving. Curious, she followed the person outside, when Phantom had went to the shoulder instead.

The little monkey had no idea who this person was. It was the same height as one of the monkeys, but it didn't look like anyone of them that she had seen. It was black monkey with a purple belly. Her eyes were light purple and shone in the semi-darkness. Nightmare snuck quietly behind this mysterious monkey, wondering who it was and what it was doing up. The monkey opened up the foot door and stepped outside. It vanished from view and Nightmare quickly exited the safety of the Super Robot. Once she was outside, she froze by the foot. The sky was brightening up for the oncoming sun and the stars were slowly fading from view. It was still a bit dark; not yet was it bright enough for the others to awake.

She wanted to know truly who this monkey was, but she couldn't find it. Sighing, she was about to enter back into the Super Robot when a shiver ran up her spine, rattling her spikes. Nightmare knew immediately that someone…or something…was behind her at this moment. Her pupiless gray eyes glanced over her shoulder and she saw the monkey standing there. Nightmare then fully turned around and gave the monkey a glare. Not a scary one, but a kid one that thought it was scary enough. The monkey laughed.

"Oh, you are scary, aren't you?" she teased. Nightmare felt her hands clench and she narrowed her eyes.

"I'm scary!" she exclaimed, her childish voice cracking a bit. The other monkey laughed even harder.

"Oh, did Auntie Martria break lil' Nighty's pride?" she mocked. Nightmare wanted to smack this monkey hard, but she remembered what Phantom had told her and she straightened.

"No, you meanie, you didn't," the white monkey replied, puffing out her little chest. Martria smirked.

"Being tough now, eh?" the black monkey asked, walking a bit closer to the child. "What are you going to do, fight me yourself? Nobody's out here to save you, Nighty. You're all alone. Big ol' Phantom isn't by your side to fight for you." Nightmare stood her ground. This monkey wasn't going to scare her. She could fight; Phantom taught her. But, deep down, she was scared. She wanted to run back inside the protection of the Super Robot. Something bad was going to happen, she could feel it in her little body.

And it would start here.


End file.
